Pneumatic ordnance



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. HILL PNEUMATIC ORDNANGE.

N0. 315,030. Patented Apr 7, 1885.

Ill/0671,42; W 1

N PEYER; mammo ra hy. Wilmington, u. c;

(No Model) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. HILL.

PNEUMATIC ORDNANOB. No. 315,030. Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

16 nesges:

N. PETERS. Pimfwblhognpher, Washmglolk an UNIT D STATES PATENT FFEClE-o EBENEZER HILL, OF SOUTH NORlVALK, CONNECTICUT.

PNEUMATIC ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,030, dated April 7, 1885. Application filed April 3, 1884. (NomodcL) T 0 M5 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EBENEZER HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Guns, of which the following is a description.

This invention pertains to certain improvements in air-guns, or such implements as employ compressed air for expelling the shaft or projectile; and the invention consists, first, in providing the muzzle of the gun with a nozzle or collar in such a manner as to form a vacuum in front of theprojectile when the discharge is made; second, the employment of a discharge-valve in the breech of the gun opened and closed by clock-work or timed by a pendulum-movement; third,the employment of cartridges in the air-chambers of the gun to burn with intense heating action without explosion and ignited by electricity; fourth, the employment of superheating-pipes, either for air or steam, in and through the air-chambers of the gun to increase its pressure, as will hereinafter appear; fifth, a peculiar form of check-valve located between the reservoir and the gun, to control the pressure in the case of accident to the gun, as will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a partial section and plan of the entire apparatus. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the discharge-valve chamber with the pendulum attached. Fig. 3 is a section of the dischargevalve chamber and the valve and its seats. Fig. 4 is a section of the safety check-valve for controlling the pressure between the reservoir and the gun.

Thebarrel or tube of the gun proper is shown at A, and may be made of several sections bolted together, as shown at A, and the rear end of the tube may be swiveled to the breech B, as shown at C, either by a hinge or ball-andsocket joint, or it may be rigidly fixed. The discharge-valve chamber is shown at D, located between the tube and the air-magazine E, which is also bolted to the other sections of the gun, (shown at F.) The air pipes from the compressor are shown at G, and lead from the air-reservoir, (not shown,) which is intended to keep a constant supply of air up to the required pressure.

At H is shown the projectile, which is intendedto be charged with some exceedingly explosive substance as dynamitc and which, when thrown onto a vessel or into a fort, will explode with terrible destruction; but as its velocity when thrown by the expansive force of compressed air is limited to a certain range, owing to the retarding influences of the atmosphere, I provide a nozzle or collar, K, around the muzzle of the gun at K, and with an expanded chamber, K and a connection either bya tube or sleeve, K, to a point at the rear of the projectile, as at K, so that when the discharge is made the atmosphere is drawn up in front of the projectile, and a current in front of the projectile is thereby produced that is free from any retarding action, and will greatly add to the displacement of the surrounding atmosphere. As the pressures for throwing such projectiles are many hundreds.

of pounds to the square inch, a peculiar construction of the discharge-valve is required, and it is located between the tube and the magazine at D, and its chamber is shown cxternally at Fig. 2 and the interior at Fig. 3. The valve proper at L is of the slidevalve type, formed with numerous openings in its face and seat L and L so that by a very slight movement of the valve the full opening is made. At opposite edges of the slide-valve are at tached pistons of different areas, M and N, working in corresponding cylinders, h and N, the larger of which, or M, is connected to the air-magazine back of the valve by a small duct, 0, through the piston, and at O in the larger cylinder is an outlet-valve operated by a lever, P, which is provided with a weight, 1?, like a pendulum, and which may be held by ratchet-teeth in a segment, as at P, to hold the valve closed, but when allowed to swing to the other point of the arc opens the valve 0 and permits an escape of the air-pressure back of the larger piston, when the pressure on the opposite side instantly shifts the slidevalve, and then as soon as the pendulum swings back the outlet-valve is closed and the discharge-valve is returned and closed, and thus during the single to-and-fro movement of the pendulum the discharge-valve is completely opened and closed. As the pressures to be used are very great, cushioningplates and recesses like those recently patented to me in a mining-machine are employed,

as shown at R and R, with ducts S and S around from the magazine to the back of said plates, as shown at Fig. 3.

To increase the explosive force of the air, I propose to employ one or more cartridges of some composition that will burn with intense heat in the air-chambers just as the discharge takes place. One of these is shown at T in the tube A, and another is shown in magazine at T, and both are connected by wires to the pendulum or lever P, so that as it swings an electric circuit will be'closed to fire the said cartridges simultaneously with the discharge.

Another method of heating the air is by heating-tubes located in the magazine E, as shown in Fig. 1 at W, which may be connected to superheating apparatus, and thus make the air under pressure intensely hot in the magazine before the discharge takes place.

As more than one gun may be connected to the air-reservoir, it will be desirable, in case any accident should happen to one of the guns, not to lose the charge from the reservoir; hence I have placed a check-valve in the pipe G, which leads from the reservoir to the gun or the magazine E, as shown. The censtruction of this valve is best shown at Fig. 4.,where X represents the main conduit leading from the reservoir to the pipe G, the air flowing in the direction of the arrows and around and underneath the hood X over a puppet-valve, X which has its seat at X in the pipe X. Said valve is held away from its seat by a spring at Y, around the stem Y in a chamber, Y extending out from the pipe X, as shown, and said spring is adjusted by a screw, Y covered by a cap, Y so that any required resistance to the inflowing air may be sustained to keep.

the valve off its seat for ordinary work; but if the pipe G should be broken so that a sudden rush of air occurred, then the valve X would be suddenly forced to its seat, and the A outward flow of the air checked, and as the pressure would remain to hold it closed the relief valve or cock at Z is provided to give a pressure back of the Valve X whenever required.

It is evident various forms of mechanism besides these shown may be used without departing from the nature of my invention-as, for example, instead of the pendulum-lever, some kind of clock-Work may be used, by which the discharge may be made, and the cartridges may be fired mechanically by some kind of fuse. I

The magazine also is represented as lined with some non'conductor of heat; but this may be dispensed with and a different form given to it, if desired; but,

Having thus described my invention, I de-' sire to secure by Letters Patent the following:

1. In an air-gun, the combination of a tube to carry and guide the projectile, a chamber for a heating cartridge back of the projectile tube, a magazine for holding air previous to the discharge of the gun, and a discharge-regulating valve intermediate of said magazine and cartridge-heating chamber, substantially as described.

2. In an air-gun, the combination, with an air-magazine and discharge-regulating valve, of a universal-jointed heating cartridge-chamber forward of said dischargeregulating valve, and a projectile-carrying chamber connected to said universal-jointed chamber, substantiall y as described.

3. The combination, with the barrel of a gun, of a nozzle surrounding the muzzle of the barrel to form a space around it, said nozzle being expanded to form an enlargement about the end of the barrel and extended forward of the muzzle, substantially as described.

4. The combination,with the barrel of a gun, of a nozzle around the muzzle of the barrel, said nozzle having a tubular connection with the interior of the gun at a point back of the projectile-space in the barrel, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the barrel of a gun, of a nozzle around the muzzle of the barrel, said nozzle extending forward of the muzzle, and having a tubular connection with the interior of the gun at a point back of the projectile-space therein, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the barrel and an air-magazine of an air-gun, of a dischargevalve intermediate of said barrel and magazine, and pistons of different areas connected with said valve on opposite sides thereof, and

operating the same by pressure from the air- I 0 magazine, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the dischargingtube and air-magazine of an air-gun, of a discharge-valve intermediate of said tube and magazine, pistons of different areas working in corresponding chambers and connected with said valve, one of said pistons being formed with an air-duct for the passage of air from the magazine to the chamber of said piston, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the dischargingtube and air-magazine of an air-gun, of a discharge-valve intermediate of said tube and magazine, differential pistons working in corresponding chambers and connected to said 5 valve, an air-duct in one of said pistons for the passage of air from the magazine into the chamber of said piston, cushioning-plates back of said pistons, and ducts for the passage of air from the air-magazine to the back of said plates to act thereon, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with the dischargingtube and air-magazine of an air-gun, of a discharge-valve controlling the passage of air from the magazine to the discharge-tube, differential pistons connected with said valve working in corresponding chambers by pressure from the air-magazine, and a dischargevalve in the chamber of one of the pistons, operating,after being moved in one direction, to automatically return, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with the dischargingtube and air-magazine of an air-gun, of a dis charge-valve, differential pistons connected with said valve and actuated in their chambers by air-pressure, an outlet-valve to the chamber of one piston, and a pendulum or equivalent mechanism for operating said outlet-valve, substantially as described.

11. The dischargevalve provided with numerous openings and bars at right angles to the axes of the differential pistons, and with corresponding openings and bars in the seat located in the breech of the gun, as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

12. The combination,with the air-magazine and proj ectile-tube of an air-gun, ofone or more chambers containing cartridges that generate heat when fired, and means connected with said cartridges for firing the same simultaneously with the discharge of the gun, substantially as described.

13. The combination, with the projectiletube and air-magazine of an air-gun, of a superheater in the air-magazine to increase the expansive force of the air, substantially as described.

14:. In an air'gun, the combination, with the barrel, discharge-regulating valve, air-magazine, and a pipe for connecting the magazine with an air-reservoir, of a check-valve in said connecting-pipe operating to cut off communication between said reservoir and magazine upon a sudden increase of pressure occasioned by a break in said pipe, substantially as described.

15. The combination, with the barrel, discharge-regulating valve, and air-1nagazine of an air-gun, and an air-supply conduit to connect the magazine with an air-reservoir, of a valve, X arranged in the said air-supply conduit, a spring, Y, acting on the stem of said valve, and a hood, X, over said valve, substantially as described.

16. The combination, with the barrel, dischargeregulating valve, and air-magazine of an air-gun, and an air-supply conduit to connect the magazine with a reservoir, of a spring actuated valve, X, arranged in the said airsupply conduit, and a relief-valve, Z, located substantially as described, to give a pressure back of the valve X", substantially as specified.

17. The combination, withothe barrel, dis- 7 charge-regulating valve, and air-magazine of an air-gun, and an air-supply conduit to connect the same with an air-reservoir, of a valve, X arranged in the said air-supply conduit, a spring, Y, acting on the stem of said valve, a hood, X, over said valve, and a relief-valve, Z, to give a pressure back of said valve, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EBENEZER HILL. [L. s.]

Vitn esses:

R. A. RIPLEY, HERMAN T. O. Kiel-ms. 

